Ford projected calm during a period of high inflation, looming energy shortages and a waning war in Southeast Asia. Ford, a Republican, lost his bid to win a full term in 1976 to Democrat Jimmy Carter. On Inauguration Day, Carter began his speech: “For myself and for our nation, I want to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our land.”

“Ford was not an important president except in one regard: the restoration of some sort of confidence in government,” said George Edwards, director of the Center for Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University.“He’ll always be considered in relation to Nixon, which will be both good and bad for him,” said Charles Jones, professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “He had to take over the worst possible situation. He was the caretaker, the lame duck, and he did it very well.”

He also left a personal legacy: His first two White House chiefs of staff, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, became key figures a quarter century later as defense secretary and vice president, respectively, under President George W. Bush.